Prayer for Malaysia

Dear friends,

A very good friend of mine, Zach Harris, as well as another friend in Malaysia have been arrested for baptizing Muslims who had found faith in Jesus. While remembering the amazing promises in the Bible that say that we are "blessed" (happy!) when we are persecuted for Jesus' sake, I ask you please to pray for these men. Please pray that God would keep them strong in their love for Christ and for the people around them. Pray that they would be able, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to bless those who persecute them, as their Lord commands. Pray that those around them in jail would see their love and their humility. Pray that they would be released soon, and that they would be kept from physical harm. And pray that, through their boldness in sharing the words of life with Malays, others in the church there would be emboldened to count "all things as loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus," as did our ancestors in the faith, who died as martyrs, not taking life as some modern-day "martyrs" do, but giving life and love and forgiveness and healing to all those who desire it. May they follow the example of Jesus, who though "being in very nature God...made himself nothing, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross!" This is God's glory--His power and His humility. May these brothers reflect His greatness as they struggle to follow Him.

Sorrowful yet always rejoicing,

Seth